UPDATE: Looks like the loser killed his parents first, then mother (at the school) and then the children in her class. Here is a good thought from Ace on how to deal with reporting this story. Accordingly, I am revising my thoughts below.
BREAKING: Horrible school shooting in Connecticut. CBS news is reporting that "at least 14 children" and "27 total dead".
BREAKING: Horrible school shooting in Connecticut. CBS news is reporting that "at least 14 children" and "27 total dead".
What kind of sicko shoots little kids? I have no words for this.
ReplyDeleteNo words can suffice, yet there will be many words.
ReplyDeleteA sicko, a deranged man (and yes, a 20 year old is - or should be - grown) who could do this is a sickness unto himself.
The words that will be bandied about are 'gun control', 'autism', 'mental illness', 'schizophrenia', and who knows what else. None of those words will prevent this from happening again because... I don't know.
You did a strike-through on 'evil' opting for 'pathetic' and I don't think I agree with that. You know me and mine well enough to know that I don't equate mental illness with evil, but that doesn't mean I don't think evil exists or that it can't partner with mental illness.
I also reject 'pathetic' because I have no pity or sympathy for this killer. For his family, perhaps... most likely for most of them. I am trying very hard not to blame them in some way -- they should have known, they should have got help for him... they made him that way. I know (first hand) that family members don't usually have that kind of control... only guilt.
But I want someone to be responsible! The killer is dead and it's so easy, so enticing, to blame someone still living from whom we can demand a pound of flesh.
Good thoughts. I don't equate mental illness with evil, and there is certainly a difference between someone who is ill and someone who is intentionally inflicting harm on others while conscious of the consequences of their actions. I don't know what we are dealing with in this situation (no one does, really) and that's part of the problem. This isn't going to be "explained" or "solved". Mentally ill is such a broad brush, that I don't even really know if that word has a definition. Not everyone who is mentally ill is a danger. Some can be treated; some can't. It's probably one of the toughest problems our society faces.
DeleteI was using "pathetic", not in the sense that I feel sorry for the shooter, but in the sense that this mass killing was so senseless and needless. Maybe it wasn't the precise word.